One-hand paddle



Jan. 30, 1940. F FLOURNQY I 2,188,343

ONE-HAND PADDLE Filed March 12, 1937 F763 I F765 49M yaw/T;

Patented Jan. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES J-PATENT OFFICE Algernon F. Flournoy, Monroe, La.

Application March 12, 1937, Serial No. 130,558

3 Claims.

My invention relates to paddles.

An object of my invention is to provide a paddle that may be manipulated with one hand.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paddle with means to hang it from the human arm when the paddle is not in actual use.

In such activities as hunting and fishing from boats it often becomes necessary to release one hand from a paddle to hold the gun or fishing pole, as the case may be. In such situations as this, I have had to paddle with one hand while holding an object with the other. As the wrist is not naturally suited to this kind of work, it soon tires. The wrist of the arm is too weak to permit the full use of the arm muscles in a paddling operation when a conventional paddle is held by only one hand.

Out of the desire to overcome this wrist strain, which always accompanied this one hand paddling operation, I conceived of the invention of a one hand paddle, forming the basis of the instant patent application.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a paddle embodying my invention shown as it is held in the operative position, and,

Fig. 2 is an end view of same paddle, shown hanging from the arm when the paddle is not in use.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the blade of the paddle;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional View of the handle of the paddle where it joins the blade of the paddle;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the handle of the paddle along the medial portion of its length;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the handle of the paddle at its end.

In the drawing wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred form of my invention, numeral l designates generally the handle of the paddle. Numeral 2 designates the paddles blade, and numeral 3 designates a semirigid strap attached to the handle I. The strap is preferably made out of metal or other suitable material sufficiently yieldable to permit manual adjustment to the arm. The strap 3 may be made out of any kind of stock that would present a smooth bearing surface to the arm, such as rods and tubes. For a matter of ease and economy in manufacture, I have found that from the scope of this invention. I am also 10 aware of the fact that the entire paddle, including the strap, could becast as a unit. Various other methods of manufacture are within the purview of this disclosure.

When the strap 3 is formed from a fiat strip 16 as disclosed by the instant specification, that portion of the length of the strap designed to contact the forearm should be curved lengthwise to fit the rounded form of the arm. The stock along this same bearing length should be curved also crosswise of its length to assure a rounded bearing surface on the forearm, not only when the paddle is in the operative position as shown in Fig. 1 but also in the hanging position as shown by Fig. 2.

I found that a strap in the form of a hook, shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, gave the best results as the opening in the hook type strap permitted the strap to be thrown over the arm after the paddle was picked up by the handle in the normal way. I also found it advantageous to mount the strap on the end of the paddle as shown in Fig. 1 with the plane of the hook intersecting the center line of the handle at an angle greater than 90 degrees. By making the angle greater than 90 degrees the effective entrance gape between the end of the strap and the handle was increased for a given vertical height between the inner surface of the strap and the surface of the handle. Another and more important reason for mounting the strap at an angle greater than 90 degrees is to permit the paddle to hang in a nearly vertical position from the forearm when the paddle is not in use.

By allowing the paddle to hang vertically from the forearm freely, the paddle hand may be left free to assist the other hand in operations requiring the use of both hands.

In the operative position illustrated in Fig. 1,

the strap 3 is shown extended over the forearm above the wrist.

When a normal forward stroke down against the water is taken with the paddle as held in Fig. 1, the reaction of the water against the blade 2 of the paddle causes the handle I and strap 3 to pivot through the hand as a fulcrum, thereby to bring the strap 3 down against the forearm. In this way the principal part of the force of the water reaction against the blade is transmitted directly to the forearm, thereby relieving the wrist of any strain.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description of my invention is to be taken for illustrated purposes only, and that various changes in size and shape may be made within the scope of this-"invention, and that I am to be limited only by the scope of the claims to follow.

Having described my invention, I claim,

1. A paddle comprising a blade and a handle, I

said handle being provided with a rigid hook shaped strap member attached at one of its ends to the handle, thence extending in a curvilineal direction, upwardly and across the center line of the said handle, said strap member being adapted to brace a human arm.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said handle extends upwardly, rearwardl'y and across the center line of the handle.

3. A paddle comprising a blade, a handle extending from the blade and a rigid. Q shaped hook member attached to the handle on a side thereof and at the end remote from the blade, said hook member being of such length as to substantially encircle the wearer's wrist;

ALGERNON F. FLOURNOY. 

